? for you catfish affectionadoes

[Blackwater]

I just know there's several of you out there who may know something about this. I recently got back from Santee-Cooper where the big cats were showing how dispassionate they can be sometimes about biting hooks. Whole lotta' folks got skunked. Most were fishing the channels, and deep water. We found the fish on the slopes just off the shores of the islands, where they apparently were taking baitfish rather casually, but consistently. We came home with over 200 lbs., which wasn't terribly good, but was way ahead of what most folks did, so I ain't ashamed of it at all. 20 fish at 200+ lbs. will keep us makin' hush puppies for a while!

I've seen quite a few shows on TV, and read elsewhere, about the shark's ability to detect magnetic fields with sensors they seem to have in their noses or cheeks. I can't help but wonder sometimes, if catfish don't have some similar ability. Sometimes, even when it's a cinch they can't see the hook well enough to matter, they can be very hook shy, and you have to bury the hook in the bait almost totally to get many bites. Other times, it doesn't seem to bother them at all. If it bothered them only when they could SEE the hook, I'd think it was a visual thing, but I really don't think that's it. Not real sure why. Just one of those nagging hunches we outdoors folk get from time to time. Heck, it may just be what I ate for supper!

I know they often, if not usually, examine the bait, if very briefly sometimes, with those whiskers. Maybe that's what shies them from the hooks? If it were that, though, it looks to me like it'd be a more consistent thing with them. Yeah, I know, fish are like women - always changin', sometimes several times a day.

Still, though, do any of you know, or have you read, what might make them shy from hooks at times, and not at others? Is my faulty memory (dang that CRS disease anyway!) letting me imagine reading or hearing something about this in the past??? Darn! Of all the things I miss, I miss my memory the most.

And has anyone noted stainless hooks (non-magnetic) working any better than the carbon steel ones?

Stainless hooks likely won't affect any detection facilities that use induced current - current induced by conductive metals passing through a magnetic field - would it??? I remember just enough about electricity and the physics of it to really get confused, so .... can anyone help?

[357maximum]

Likely the problem was more to do with the weather/pressures and all. Around here both channels and flats eat big ol mustad hooks on chalkline, and I have never noticed anything "SHY" about them, but sometimes they simply do not eat,but if you WORK IT you can rustle a few up..if you catch em intheir safezones..... and it is why I own a barometer....if the pressure is rising or has been high for awhile I do something else normally.....when it starts to fall or has been consistantly low for a bit...I fire up the catwrangler and hit the water.

The biggest thing that amazes me around here is how much time is wasted fishing for cats at night and all throught the night......ol beady eyes can be caught anytime, but the grey zones are USUALLY far more productive.

when they are hungry they eat whenever, when they arent hungry or the weather has them "OFF" go do something else. Of course ya can't control the weather or the vacation agends past a point...so sometimes you must punt, sounds like you "PUNTED" rather well....:-D for the situation at hand.

[Blackwater]

Oh yeah ... the reason I'm asking is the next time I go, I think I'm going to try the "crappie minnows" live, which there are 2.5-3" shiners there, but I'd really like to use a 3/0 hook, too. Those big cats can bend anything less, especially using 30 lb. line or heavier. The cats were feeding on 2-4" baitfish of probably a number of species. We used cut baits, catawbas and shrimp, and the fish hit any of them as well as the next from what we could see. We caught fish on those 3 plus line-caught bream (legal there), and no bait was a standout over the others. If I go back, I'll be using a med. sized open face reel on a 6' Ugly Stick, 30 lb. braided spectra line (may even tie line directly to hook, 'cause I got my 30 lb. Trilene Big Game cut by a big cat's teeth, as did one of the other two), a 3" cigar foam float, and as light a sinker/split shot as I can get by with and still throw far enough (100' or better) from the boat so that the fish aren't paying more attention to the boat than the bait. a 3" avg. shiner will be a bit overwhelmed by a 3/0 hook, but a lesser hook may bend if a real big one hits. See my dilema? I may use 2/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks. They're strong enough, but still ..... a big hook gap sure does help when hooking a big ol' cat, and I've never been one who's able to depend on luck for success. Big cats have some BIG jawbones. Hard, too. And big ol' teefies to bite and frazzle yer line.

Most folks lose the real big ones because they simply don't prepare well enough ahead of time. If I get another big'un on, I do NOT want to lose him!

Anyone got any ideas? I usually hook them through both lips, but sometimes ahead of the dorsal fin. As hard as you have to throw them, hooking them in the back will surely sling a fair number off the hook. That Ugly Stick has a fairly soft tip, but still, it's got a good deal of power in the midsection and butt, and WILL sling a shiner off if used too enthusiastically.

As you can see, I'm vascillating terribly. Don't you just HATE it when ya' do that? Guess we've all been there, but ... no fun when it hits, is it? Any advice out there?

[Hackleback]

For flatheads, bullheads make a good trot line bait- they stay alive for ever. For big blues and channels, FRESH cut bait can make a difference. Skipjack herring is the bait of choice for serious cat fisherman around here.

[KCSO]

Here when they are hook shy we use a minnow threaded on to the hook like a worm. It seems to work, but you will pick up an occasional sauger or walleye that way.